


Workplace Stressors and the Importance of the Chain of Command

by GoldsweptSilk (Listless_Songbird)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Elias being a bastard, Mind Control, Rewrite of a canon scene, Vampires, threats of abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 02:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20166937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listless_Songbird/pseuds/GoldsweptSilk
Summary: Jon goes a step too far in his recriminations of Elias after being kidnapped and Elias takes step to remind Jon of his place.





	Workplace Stressors and the Importance of the Chain of Command

**Author's Note:**

> In this Verse each of the entities represents a separate clan, all of the vampires are able to charm people/induce fear or awe, as well as having super strength and speed, but each Clan has a specialization. Ive put them at the end so as to not bog down the top.
> 
> This takes place during the beginning of episode 102 after Jon returns from his kidnapping.

“Look, Jon. I understand you’re upset.” Elias sat behind his desk as always. Placidly calm as always. Utterly useless  _ As Always _ . 

Jon threw this last thought down the bond that had snapped back into place the moment Helen had pulled him through his fractured and pained dreams and into Elias’s. Elias just smiled indulgently and continued as if he hadn’t sensed anything. 

“I was doing everything in my power to locate you, but the House of the Strange has protections in place that even I cannot breach. The Rogue Spiral created enough of a disruption in them that I was able to sense its intent and force a conduit through which you  _ could _ return home. Without which it would have been a much slower process to retrieve you from the Delirium.” Elias spoke calmly and his tone just served to irritate Jon more. 

“And I can’t  _ imagine _ what might have happened if your  _ rescue _ had been any slower.” Jon’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and he knew he was Radiating anger and irritation but he didn’t care. “I am. Sick. And  _ Tired _ . Of relying on the  _ kindness _ of those whose stated intent is to  _ kill me _ . You could at least do me the courtesy of  _ trying _ .” Jon was snarling by the end, a growl seated deep in his throat. (Rip, tear,  _ take his pound of flesh _ ) even as the pain began to build behind his eyes (obey,  _ behave _ ,  ** _submit_ ** ) but that only fueled his rage. Thoughts spilled out of his mind angry and cutting, to fast to even voice so Jon just forced them into the air between them 

_ He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t want this, to be bound and tied to a heartless sire. _

Elias sat up straight and glared at Jon slightly. (The pressure built and soon keeping his eyes leveled at him became a herculean effort over the roar of  ** _Submit_ ** )

“I am _not_ heartless. Whatever else you may throw at me as you throw a temper tantrum _like a child_ **_never_** call me heartless again.” His words gained an echo and the words fizzled out into nothing in his mind, so faded that Jon was positive he wouldn’t be able to use it for anything now.

“If I were as  _ ‘Heartless’ _ as you claim I would have hardly put so much effort and time into your training, or your care.” Jon scoffed. 

“My care. My  _ care _ ? My care that left me kidnapped and brought before a woman who  _ wore me my face and taunted me with my own voice? _ That care? And the training. The one that was so Useless it left me at her  _ mercy _ ? That training?” Elias stood now and his presence increased until Jon could do nothing but drop his eyes and tilt his head to the side baring his neck with gritted teeth. 

“I am sorry, Jon, that you are  _ displeased _ with my methods, but I am giving you the information you need.” He had circled the desk to stand by Jon, not touching, just looking as Jon fought against his blood  <strike> Elias’s blood </strike> that held him in supplication. Jon’s voice came through his teeth and dripped with hatred. 

“Yes. The same “information” that you sent me after. Blind with Hunger that you  _ forced _ . On me as you stood back and  _ watched _ .” All the resentment of his ‘birth’ boiling to the surface and he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. “Letting me get so close to what I needed. Only force me,  _ unwilling _ to join you into the Blood and Hunger and Frenzy until I woke up covered in  _ gore _ –“ Elias’s hand clamped over his mouth and pulled every thought from his head in one fell swoop until there was nothing Jon could do but stand there.

“I–“ Elias’s words are deliberate now, voice flat even as his rage tore at the very fabric of Jon’s mind. “Offered this to you. A hundred times in a hundred ways. And you came running into my arms at. Every. Turn.” Elias’s voice became silken and soft, drawing Jon in as if he could have focused on anything else in this moment. “Leitner would have only offered half truths and simple answers. A moral can never truly understand the game, no matter how well they think they play. You require- Special tutelage,  _ Archivist. _ If you’re ever to become my heir in anything but name.” Elias sent him to his knees with enough force to bruise. 

“A month too far from home has made you forget  _ your place _ .” A force  _ pulled _ at the blood within him still flowing sluggishly as over the last months Jon’s heart slowly lost the memory of why it should still be beating. 

“You. Are.  ** _Mine._ ** ” Elias’s hand wrenched his head back by the hair, baring his throat completely. 

“And it seems you need a  _ reminder _ ”

* * *

Elias didn’t bite down as Jon thought he would have. As he wanted,  _ needed _ in this moment. He just let go of Jon’s head, trusting that Jon would keep it in its place. 

He ran a finger slowly from Jon’s jaw to his collarbone, tracing the line of the vein. As he did so he withdrew all of his presence from the room. Leaving it so empty it almost echoed with it. Jon couldn’t stop his whimper at the loss but Elias only removed his fingers and took a step back. 

And did nothing else. 

He didn’t move, he didn’t say anything, he didn’t even breathe, the only sound was Jon’s breath coming sharp but strained from the angle of his neck. After what seemed like hours Elias’s voice softly cut the silence.

“Close your eyes and stay silent.” There was no power behind it, no thrum of his blood in answer. Nothing to indicate it was anything more than a simple statement, but Jon latched on regardless, this muted  _ nothing _ was even worse than the Stranger with his own face. His eyes closed and soon he heard the door open and shut behind him. 

Had he left? Had Elias left? Jon couldn’t tell. He  _ couldn’t _ sense him. He had always  _ always _ been aware of where he was in the Institute. Could feel him no matter where he was.

But now there was nothing. Jon reached out, felt for the bond of blood between them, and tried to pull on it. 

It was still there still there, so Elias hadn’t abandoned him, but  _ he wasn’t there. _

The bond slipped through his grasp like oil and Jon almost sobbed. He wanted to collapse, to open his eyes, fall into himself and scream just to fill the silence. But Elias had told him to close his eyes and stay silent, and had expected him to stay and so he stayed. 

Tears flowed down his cheeks. It was too much. He hadn’t thought- he had just been cut off for  _ weeks _ it shouldn’t- this shouldn’t be any different. But before, he had been  _ taken _ . Now he had been  _ left. _

Just when Jon thought he was going to break, he felt a hand touch his cheek, a thumb brush under his eyes and wipe away the tears. 

Jon couldn’t stop the sob if he tried and leant towards the hand. Another hand cradling the base of his skull stilled him and Jon stopped, letting Elias do whatever he wanted. 

A spike of pain and agony shot through his head and Jon choked. Would have flinched but the hand in his hair became a fist that Jon was held solidly in place. 

Another spike. This one made of pulsing loss. Hooking into memories just minutes prior pulling them forward, swamping the comfort of his physical closeness.

Then nothing. Elias let go and Jon couldn’t stop himself as he collapsed to the floor. Elias was gone and it was worse now, somehow, to know he was still in the room. Had been in the room with him the entire time. Jon eventually picked himself back up off the ground to kneel again and Elias was there in an instant, this time gently cradling his face between both of his hands. 

Jon braced himself, promised himself he wouldn’t flinch wouldn’t fall wouldn’t fail, tried to send these thoughts along the bond, a promise, a plea. But they spilled out into nothing. 

The presence of Elias in his mind this time was just as sudden but it carried no pain, no loss. It pulled at memories of comfort and belonging in the Archives, overlaid it with the image of Jon before him. Kneeling. Face upturned in Elias’s grasp.  _ Submitting _

The pain tore through the image and comfort in Jon’s mind. Yanking memories of his time with Nikola out like teeth, leaving behind pain and disappointment and something that almost felt like an apology in its place. 

Then came the loss, different source but same effect as Elias left again, this time pushing Jon to the floor. 

The cycle repeated. Over and over and over again sometimes kindness, gentle reminders of what he earned with his service his loyalty. Others pain and suffering and memories of failure and disobedience. Suffering condensed to a moment sent screaming through his mind. And after every cycle he was back on the floor. At Elias’s feet  <strike> like a dog </strike> where he belonged.

And every time he got back up to kneel again Elias was there to remind him of his place. Bringing pain and guilt _but he was there. _Jon rose every time, over and over again because anything _anything _that Elias did was better than the void inside him where Elias should be.

Until it became too much. Jon couldn’t rise. Couldn’t get back up. Couldn’t do anything but lay there, too exhausted even for tears. And finally.  _ finally. _ He could sense Elias again, like a soft blanket wrapping around his mind. Elias knelt next to him, situating Jon’s head in his lap and gently ran his hands through Jon’s hair. 

“Do you understand now Jon? You will be  _ unmade _ without me. I would not wish that upon you. I do not  _ want _ to see you in this state. It tore at me, to have lost you from my Sight and I would have broken the Dancer to pieces should she have killed you.  ** _You are mine._ ** Do you understand this now?” Jon couldn’t even nod, just sent affirmation and apologies spilling down the connection. Tears once again running down his face, staining Elias’s trousers. The hand left his hair and Jon let out an involuntary noise of protest. But then Elias’s wrist was in front of him. 

“Drink, Jon. You’ve had a very long day and need some rest.” Jon surged forward with all the energy he had left and let himself get lost in the sensation of belonging.

**Author's Note:**

> Buried- Paralyzation   
Corruption- Pest Swarm  
Dark- Shadow Walking  
Desolation- Daywalkers  
End- Eternal Sleep   
Eye- Memory Manipulation  
Flesh- Shapeshifting  
Hunt- Hunters Mark  
Lonely- Invisibility   
Slaughter- Blood Rage  
Spiral- Dream Walking   
Stranger- Mimicry   
Vast- Flight   
Web- Compulsion


End file.
